NEA: Americans deserve a voice in selection of next Supreme Court justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

WASHINGTON — Before Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is even laid to rest, Donald Trump is expected to announce his nominee to fill her seat.

The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Becky Pringle:

“This upcoming term, the Supreme Court will decide whether to protect people’s healthcare or to deny healthcare to those with pre-existing conditions. And in the coming months and years, the Supreme Court may determine whether workers have the right to join and form unions, whether voters have the right to vote free of interference and suppression, and whether our students are entitled to equitable and non-discriminatory public education. The next justice could decide all of these issues and more.

“The people should decide who picks and confirms this consequential justice, and no one should be considered before the next inauguration. In an historically unprecedented move, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm a nominee, even as people are voting in the election. Instead of rushing to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, they should be working to get the pandemic under control, providing support to state and local governments so that school buildings can open safely and all students can be educated virtually when they cannot, and ensuring that working families get the economic relief they need now. 

“Judge Amy Coney Barrett has sided with the powerful and well-connected throughout her career. She will vote to strike down the Affordable Care Act, and its protections for those with pre-existing conditions; Donald Trump has already told us she will. Judge Barrett even criticized Chief Justice John Roberts for upholding the law in 2012. Her brief judicial record is no better: She has sided with the powerful against workers, allowed racially segregated workplaces, ruled in favor of Trump policies harming immigrants, and against those seeking to protect women from sexual assault.

“We mourn the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a pioneering trailblazer who fought tirelessly — until the very end — so that the Constitution lived up to its promise, and her legal work brought us closer to a more perfect union. For now, the Senate should be celebrating her life — not ramming through her replacement. We must honor her by supporting someone who, like Justice Ginsburg, will be fair-minded to all of us and not just the powerful and well-connected. Judge Barrett is not that person.”